Joss Whedon talks 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' pilot, 'Star Wars' sequel

Joss Whedon arrived in Austin for the SXSW film festival and revealed some thoughts about his S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot, as well as gave a couple interesting quotes on topics ranging from Disney’s upcoming Star Wars sequel to ABC’s Lost.

The geek-icon writer-director was on hand to promote his film Much Ado About Nothing (teaser trailer below). Panel moderator, Buzzfeed’s Adam Vary, called Whedon’s take on the William Shakespeare classic “one of the sexiest things you’ve ever done.” Whedon quipped, “That includes having sex.”

Asked about S.H.I.E.L.D., Whedon joked that the ABC pilot “sucks,” then shot a look at Much Ado co-star Clark Gregg (who, of course, plays the resurrected Agent Phil Coulson in S.H.I.E.L.D.). Whendon did note, “it’s about the people who didn’t win that lottery and aren’t heroes in that world.”

Over on Deadline, Whedon elaborated that S.H.I.E.L.D. “will tap into the visual style and ethos, and even some of the mythology, of the Marvel movies” with “more intimate stories that belong on television” and is more about the “world around the superhero community” rather than the superheroes themselves. “For me the most important thing is that people fall in love with it on its own merits, rather than constantly asking, “Is there gonna be an Avenger?” he says. “Well, there’s not gonna be a Hulk because that guy’s too expensive.”

So that’s one big Avenger to cross off the show’s potential character list.

Over on Digital Spy, Whedon was asked his thoughts about another mega franchise. Star Wars creator George Lucas recently kinda-sorta spilled that original trilogy stars Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill were all-but-certain to appear in the new sequel. Whedon suggested that if he wrote the project, he’d avoid bringing back the original actors. “You know, I wouldn’t go back, I’d go forward,” he said. “I would want to create characters that would resonate the way that they did.” (But Joss — even if Disney would let you kill them off?)

There’s one sci-fi entertainment brand Whedon doesn’t have an opinion on, however, and that’s ABC’s Lost. Whedon surprised the Much Ado audience by revealing he never watched the long-running hit. “You either make TV or you watch it,” he explained.

UPDATE: ‘Star Wars’: Are the original actors too old for a sequel?

Here’s the Much Ado trailer: